


Space snippets

by kitbug



Series: The Tribulations of Andi Ryder [6]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Smooching, exploring alien anatomy, may devolve into dirty alien fucking, prompt fills, silly little fics, when i stop being a goddamn coward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-02-06 06:51:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12812022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitbug/pseuds/kitbug
Summary: Short little stories about my Ryder and Jaal, inspired by various and sundry prompts received on tumblargh.





	1. Kiss prompt. 16/18

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by EllsterSMASH from the [kiss prompt list](http://kittlesandbugs.tumblr.com/post/166768701004/fictional-kiss-prompts) on tumblr:
> 
> 16\. When one person’s face is scrunched up, and the other one kisses their lips/nose/forehead  
> 18\. Kisses where one person is sitting in the other’s lap.

Jaal loved kissing humans.

Well, just this one, he supposed as he threaded his fingers through Andi’s short, feathery hair.  He only had experience with her as far as humans went, and not much more when it came to angara.  Human lips were so much softer and more pliable, and it was… fascinating.  He caught her lower lip gently between his teeth as she pulled away to catch her breath.  It bounced slightly when he released it.  Beautiful.

She sat back on her heels, straddling his thighs, and grinned as he purred with delight.  Angara legs couldn’t hope to bend that way.  The variety positions she could achieve with that flexibility never ceased to astound and amaze him.

A ridiculous thought came to Jaal as he admired her, perched in his lap and slightly flushed.  A deep chuckle escaped him before he could stop it.  

Andi gave him a narrow look and crossed her arms over her chest.  “What’s so funny?  I’m not _that_ bad at kissing.”

“No,” he agreed languidly.  “I greatly enjoy kissing you.  I was just thinking that, when Efvra gave me this assignment to learn more about humans, he did not intend for me to have this… depth of experience.”

Her face scrunched up like an adhi pup, and he recognized it as an expression of disgust.  It was amazing how much emotion they could show through only their faces.  Perhaps they evolved that way out of necessity, unable to do anything with such weak bioelectric fields.

“ _You_ think about _your boss_ when _we’re making out?_ “  Her voice dripped with disdain.  

“No, not usually.”  He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the tip of her wrinkled-up button nose, hoping to mollify her.  “I suppose I am distracted today.”

Andi pondered that for a moment, and then a wicked grin crossed her features.  She rose up onto her knees again and pushed his shoulders back into the plush black leather of the couch.  Then her hands slid up behind his scarred cowl and dug into a sensitive spot that sent a rumble through his chest and pool of warmth straight to his groin.

“I guess I’ll just have to work harder on keeping your attention then,” she purred and pressed her forehead to his.  “Since _Evfra_ is so _distracting_.”

Jaal cupped her muscular ass in his hands and pulled her in tight to him.   She laughed and ground her hips against his, drawing a low growl out of him.  “Evfra who?”


	2. Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Send my OC a rumor and they'll respond to it.
> 
> "Heeeey!!! So...Andi...I heard this rumour that you REALLY like caressing Jaal's neck flaps?? Is that true?? What do they...feel like??"

“Peebee’s not very good at subtlety, is she?”  Andi rolled her eyes and tossed the datapad on coffee table.

Jaal picked it up and read the anonymous message himself.  “How do you know it was her?”

“She’s the only one who calls your…” Andi gestured vaguely to her own neck.  “Whatever-you-call-it, your “neck flaps.’”

“My cowl,” he supplied.  “She _is_ quite interested in it.”  

“She can keep her damn hands to herself,” Andi growled, feeling a sudden spike of jealousy.  She caught Jaal looking at her oddly out of the corner of her eye.  “What?”

“What _does_ it feel like to you?  Is it… strange?”

She mulled over the question for a moment.  “Not that strange.  I guess it’s like a warm, rubbery muscle?  Smooth and strong, but like, with a little give to it.”  She smirked and waggled her eyebrows at him.  “Tingly too, when you get… excited.”

He let out a little purr.  “And, do you enjoy… caressing it?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblargh is [here](http://kittlesandbugs.tumblr.com) to send prompts or say hi.


	3. Heleus Defender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andi gets a new set of armor and it causes quite a stir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No prompt for this one, this is just a silly fic idea I had ages ago when I first saw the Heleus Defender armor, and I finally sat down and finished it.

“Sooooo, what do you guys think?”

Andi struck a pose in the new armor she’d gotten from the Nexus.  State-of-the-art, they’d told her, a marriage of Milky Way, angaran, and remnant technology.  She’d put in a request for a new set after the last suit had been ruined by multiple battles and practically become an adhi’s chew toy.  R&D came back with this.

The hardsuit was an iridescent white that reflected back a rainbow of colors, like a beetle’s wings.  The jumpsuit was a brilliant purple, lined with fiber optic lights that alternated teal and lavender every few seconds.  It was accompanied by a silver helmet with a purple visor. Andi had to admit that it was more than a little ridiculous, but she couldn’t care less.  She _loved_ ridiculous things.

“Well, it is _pretty_ , I’ll give you that,” Cora said, leaning against the doorway to the loadout.  “Hope they put as much effort into its defensive capabilities.”

 _“This new armor increases the pathfinder’s offensive and defensive capabilities by 30% over the standard issue Initiative hardsuit.”_  SAM chimed in helpfully, and Cora gave a satisfied nod.

“Nothing wrong with pretty armor.”  Liam gave Andi a thumbs up and a broad grin.  “Do a little spin, like on a runway!”

Andi pivoted on command.  A firm smack followed by a yelp echoed through the loadout area.  She spun back around and glared at Peebee, who cackled and looked entirely unrepentant.

“What?  I couldn’t help myself.”  Peebee gestured grandly towards Andi’s hips.  “Your ass looks _phenomenal_ in that suit.  You guys see it too, right?  The way the lights follow her curves?  Like, _damn_.  She’s lit up like Christmas.  I just want to unwrap her.”

Drack snorted and clicked the heatsink back into his now-clean shotgun before regarding her with a critical eye.  “Too small.”

“Oh my god, whyyyyyyyy.”  Andi buried her beet-red face in her hands.

“Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t look.”  He chuckled low in his throat as he walked out. “But this is too much krogan for your scrawny ass to handle.”

“I am _not_ scrawny!”  She yelled at his back and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

“What is all the yelling about?”  Jaal ducked into the loadout. His blue eyes darted from person to person, confused.  “Are we under attack?”

“No--” Cora started to answer.

“I am!”  Andi interrupted and huffed.  “My crew is assaulting me.”

Peebee giggled and waggled her eyebrows.  “ _Ass_ aulting.”

Liam met her with a high five.  The pained groans that followed confused the angara even further.  “I do not understand. _What_ is going on?”

“Andi was trying on her new armor the Nexus scientists designed.”  Cora sighed and massaged her temple. “Some of the... features have gotten them excited.”

Jaal’s eyes drifted over her form, lingering on the lights trailing across her limbs and belly.  “I can see angaran influence in the design. It’s a beautiful set of custom armor. That should excite anyone,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but the real prize is in the _behind_ the scenes,” Liam said with a sly glance at their pathfinder, who made a strangled protest, and another five to Peebee.

Jaal looked from one to the other and pursed his lips.  “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Because they’re assholes,” Cora answered with a slight quirk of her lip.  At Andi’s betrayed look, she cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

“I’m missing something here,” he sighed.

“Allow me to... illuminate you on the situation,” Peebee whispered with a wink. She subtly pulled a rifle scope from the shelf behind Andi with her biotics, and it clattered to the floor.

Jaal’s pupils dilated, he sucked in a breath and let out a low _“oh…”_ as Andi instinctively turned around and bent over to pick it up.  

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”  Peebee sighed wistfully and stared longingly.  “I’d follow that anywhere.”

“Peebee got a little handsy before.  And Drack called her scrawny.” Cora whispered to him.  “That’s why she was yelling earlier.”

Jaal took offense on Andi’s behalf and sputtered, “She is _not_ scrawny!  Her hindquarters are perfect.  Strong and supple and… so _very_ soft.  And, just the right size,” he added, glaring heatedly at Peebee, “for _my_ hands.”

 _“Jaal!”_  Andi shot straight up and whirled around, somehow impossibly redder than before.  

Cora snorted loudly and hid her grin behind her hand.  

Liam barked out a laugh.  “That is so much more information than I needed.”  He held out his hand to Peebee. “Told you he was an ass man.  That’ll be 20 credits.”

Peebee held up her hands in mock innocence and gave Jaal a wide berth as he scooped Andi up in one arm over his shoulder.  She let out a surprised yelp and clung to his rofjinn as he ducked through the doorway, careful not to hit her head on the frame.  His other hand covered her ass quite deliberately from the rest of the crew’s view as he turned to regard the others with a stony glare.

“Now, if you will excuse us,” he said with a slight growl. “I need to conduct a personal inspection of the Pathfinder’s new armor.”

Andi gave them a jaunty wave as she was hauled off, embarrassment giving way to self-satisfaction at Jaal’s reaction.  

At least until Peebee yelled after them, “It’ll look even better on her floor!”


	4. Talk to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew gets ambushed by some eirochs, Jaal gets hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from ellsterSMASH, [hurt prompts list:](http://kittlesandbugs.tumblr.com/post/175317367164/hurt-prompts) 'i've got you. just stay awake. can you do that for me?' for andi x jaal
> 
> Takes place before they are in an established relationship.

“Jaal took a bad hit!  I think he’s down!”

“ _Shit!_  Shit shit shit!”

Andi ducked and rolled away under the massive eiroch’s arm as it swiped at her and cast a glance of her shoulder.  Vetra paced backwards and unloaded her assault rifle into the other beast. It faltered from the rapid fire and bled heavily from a large wound across its belly.  Jaal must have gotten hit while gutting it. The angara was lying against a wall of rock and struggling to sit up. The blue-splattered crack above him told her he’d hit it hard.

“Stay down, Jaal!  We got this!” Andi yelled and dodged to the side as the eiroch charged her.  If he replied, she didn’t hear it. 

She emptied her shotgun into the soft red flesh on its side.  She jumped backwards onto a large rock to make distance as she reloaded and cocked it for another assault.  The eiroch roared in pain and rage and charged wildly at her. She leaped high into the air as it crashed through the stone and charged her omni-blade to full length and power.  She came down hard atop its back and used the force to drive the blade through its thick plated skull. It screeched and reared, dislodging and throwing her into a tumble across the ground, before falling dead.

She got back up and searched around for the second eiroch to find it dead at Vetra’s feet.  The turian was breathing heavily as she holstered her rifle, but seemed otherwise no worse for the wear.  Andi gave Vetra a nod and a thumbs up before holstering her own weapon and jogging over to check on Jaal.

“Vetra, call Kallo for an extraction!”  She knelt down next to Jaal and helped him lean forward so she could see the damage.  The back of his head was painted blue with his blood, and still bleeding heavily from a large gash.  She felt around the wound, checking his skull. 

He flinched sharply and raised a hand to defend it from her ministrations.

“Talk to me, big guy,” she murmured and readied a syringe of medigel.  “How are you?”

“Dizzy,” he groaned and massaged his forehead.  “Nauseous. My head feels like it’s splitting open.”

“It’s not quite that bad, but…” 

“What… what happened?”  Jaal blinked sleepily at the two dead eirochs.

“You took a bad hit into the rock behind you,” Vetra answered as she approached them.  Her mandibles twitched.irritably and she scowled “Bad news, Pathfinder. The Tempest won’t be able to extract us for several hours.  We’ll be better off driving back.”

Andi’s head whipped around.  “What? Why not?”

“ _ Someone _ thought it was a good time to dismantle and “improve” the fuel pump,” Kallo answered drily through the comm .

“I didn’t think they’d need an extraction this soon, usually they’re off doing their thing until nightfall,” Gil’s voice snapped, defensive.

“Well,  _ I _ didn’t think we’d get ambushed by two giant monsters, but shit happens, and we need to be ready for it,” Andi snarled and gestured for Vetra to end the call.  “SAM, get me Lexi on the line.”

_ “Of course, Andi.  Patching you through.” _

“What happened?  I heard someone was injured.” 

“We got ambushed, and Jaal took a bad hit to the back of his head.  It’s bleeding really badly. I think he’s got a concussion too.”

“Head wounds always bleed much worse than they are.  Medigel will stop it, and prevent any infection. As for the concussion, there’s not much you can do for him on the field.  Monitor his condition and try to get back here as soon as you can. I’ll consult with the doctor here at the port and have the medlab ready for him.  Call me back if he seems to be getting worse.”

“Okay.”  Lexi’s calm demeanor took the edge off her anger and anxiety, and she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.  “Thanks, Lexi.”

Vetra knelt down beside them and pulled the woozy angara forward for Andi to apply the medigel.  He let out a pained hiss as the antiseptic sealed his wounds. The bleeding stopped instantly, but his rofjinn was definitely going to need a thorough cleaning when they got back.

“Let’s get him to the Nomad.  The sooner we get back, the better.”  Vetra took his arm around her shoulder.  “On three.” 

Andi nodded and slipped under his other arm.  They got him upright with minimal trouble, and he seemed able to keep himself there.  “Can you walk?”

“Yes.”  Jaal nodded and then winced.  “Maybe. I think so.”

Vetra let go and unholstered her assault rifle.  “I’ll take point and watch for anymore creatures.  You cover him.”

“Right.  Sounds good.”

They made their way back to the entrance of the large cave.  It was slow going on the uneven, rocky ground. Jaal stumbled frequently, and only Andi’s firm grip around his waist kept him from toppling completely.  He leaned heavily on her, and by the time they reached the mouth of the cave--without any encounters--they were both breathing harshly.

“How are you doing, Jaal?” she asked as they waited for Vetra to give the all clear.

“Tired,” he mumbled and swayed when she adjusted her grip.  “Want to sleep.”

“You can sleep in the Nomad.  We’re almost there,” she said and held on tighter.  “Just need to stay awake a little bit longer. Can you do that for me, big guy?”

Jaal made a noise that she took as an affirmative, and they set off again as Vetra waved them forward.  The Nomad was parked just outside the entrance, and had thankfully not been found by scavengers or exiles.  It was a struggle to get Jaal up into the cabin, with Vetra supporting his bulk from behind and Andi helping to pull him in.  He stumbled forward over the last step, and the momentum landed him on top of her on the padded bench seat in the back.

Vetra climbed in after them and chuckled.  Andi could only imagine how she looked, beet-red and trapped with the angara sprawled across her lap.  Jaal moved into a more comfortable position across the bench and looked ready to fall asleep at any minute. Vetra pulled the cab door shut behind her and climbed up into the driver’s seat, ignoring Andi’s plaintive look for help.

“H-hey!”

“Don’t worry, I know how to drive one of these,” Vetra called back and started the ignition.  “You take care of him. SAM, plot the quickest route back to Kadara port.”

_ “Setting your nav point.” _

“That’s not what I--”  Andi made a frustrated sound and slowly shifted until her legs weren’t trapped at an awkward angle beneath him.  There was no good place for her hands except on top of him, but given his current lack of concern for personal space, she didn’t think he’d mind.  “Talk to me, Jaal. Still with us?”

“I hate Kadara,” Jaal muttered unhappily into the crease of her hip.

She ran a hand along the curve of his cowl and sighed.  “I know, big guy. I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblargh is [here](http://kittlesandbugs.tumblr.com) if you want to drop by and say hi or maybe dump a prompt


End file.
